Mobile Templates or Responsive Design? A Comparison

This is the mobile age. The amount of web traffic that is identified from mobile devices like mobile phones and tablets is increasing day-by-day. In such cases, users are looking for exceptional experiences on their mobile devices, at par with their desktop experiences.

There are multiple methods using which websites are developed for mobile. Two of the most popular methods are creating responsive websites and using mobile templates, i.e., m. sites. Let’s see how they fare in comparison with each other.

Responsive Web Design

Mobile Templates

Have almost all the functionality and features of the desktop site

Have features that are mobile friendly; this is usually a subset of the desktop site's features

You can use the same domain (URL) as your desktop site to display your website on a mobile device

You will need separate domains for each mobile template that you will have

All mobile traffic contributes to the SEO of the website link

The organic search traffic gets split between the different URLs of the different websites

A single responsive website will work for all screen sizes

You will require different templates for different devices

You require a single site and content repository. Changes will need to be made only at the single repository for it to get reflected across all devices.

Different site and content repositories will be required for each site. A single change will have to be made in all repositories for it to be shown across all devices.

Creating a responsive website from the scratch requires higher investment as the existing website, if not responsive, will need to be redesigned.

A new website can be developed without affecting and independent of the existing website.